Circle South Floriade Tour

The Circle South Floriade Tour in 2012 combines the river deltas of the Rhine and Meuse with a visit to the Floriade. This World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands - in itself already a horticultural centre of world importance - is organized every 10 years; this time in Venlo, in the south-east of the Netherlands at the banks of the Meuse river.

Enjoy cycling along dikes, fields and forests, viewing the orchards and admiring the esplanade surrounding traditional farmhouses amidst fertile river clay pastures. We dock in the oldest city of the Netherlands, Nijmegen, where the Romans established their most northern stronghold of the ‘limes' (border). Set foot in Germany east from the Rhine and Meuse and visit Kleef and the amazing pilgrimage town of Kevelaer.

Coming from the Floriade, old heather fields mark a change in scenery on our way to ‘s Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch), one of the four former capitals of Brabant, once part of the Duchy of Burgundy. Its gothic cathedral is still one the most beautiful testimonies of catholic heritage in the Netherlands. The underground river tour shows you the medieval set up of the town in a breathtaking way.

On our way back along the Waal, the main arm of the Rhine, we pass the fortified towns of Heusden, Woudrichem and Gorinchem and pay a visit to the medieval Loevestein Castle (1368). The old towns and strongholds are built to protect booming Holland against attacks of the anxious competitors from abroad. We visit the silver town Schoonhoven and Utrecht with all its churches, canals and city castles.

The tour begins and ends in Amsterdam. Your last full day is spent in Amsterdam.

Tours begin on Saturday in Europe; you must leave the USA on Friday to arrive on Saturday. Guests need to arrive at the barge by noon the day the tour starts. On the last day of the tour guests debark by 9:00 am.